Dummies doing business analysis Boston Scientific

[epidural man]

Have you guys used that Fixate suturing thing from Boston Scientific?

They didn’t invent them - they bought the company that invented them.

But oh my gosh, they are super cool and great.

But I can’t imagine a single person ever uses them. They cost something like $700 a piece. That is an extra $1400 cost to an implant.

Who the crap priced those? Are they horrible at math?

I suspect that if they were $50-100, EVERYONE would use them every time. They are really great if you haven’t tried one. I mean…fantastic idea and design.

In anesthesia, nothing has changed in like 20 years but someone invented a game changing drug (sugammadex), and everyone would use it every case of it cost $10-$15, but the ‘***** at Merk priced it at $100/vial and most hospitals and ASCs keep it locked up and severally limit use.

I just don’t get the price analysis these yahoos use for this stuff.

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[lobelsteve]

2 silk sutures per lead. 1 more minute max for the whole case. Easy to yank and check security. I played with those peek t anchors before the sellout. Fun. Cool. Stupid.

 

[RoloTomassi]

Somewhat related... Anyone use Zip Stitch or similar product for skin closure?

Here is Stryker's version:

Zip skin closure

Zip is a non-invasive skin closure device for surgical incisions and lacerations. It's designed to distribute strain along the incision. This helps reduce wound complications^1,2, saving you cost and time.^3,5 <br><br> Zip’s benefits aren’t only limited to healthcare...

www.stryker.com

 

[gdub25]

I’m with epidural man, those anchor suture injectors are awesome and do a much better job anchoring than just about all of us do. I pride myself on being the greatest SCS proceduralist I can ever be, do a high volume and work hard to perfect my craft and can admit these things would make me better but the cost is prohibitive. Yes, they are $500+ each.

 

[Ferrismonk]

It seems like so many things do this in medicine. Coolief is great, but not at $1200 per kit. Intracept is a nice adjunct to our back pain algorithm, but the kit is super expensive.

 

[paindoc007]

My hospital pays for them. So I use them. Of course I wouldn’t if I was footing the bill. But I’m not. Win win

 

[gaspasser127]

I’m with epidural man, those anchor suture injectors are awesome and do a much better job anchoring than just about all of us do. I pride myself on being the greatest SCS proceduralist I can ever be, do a high volume and work hard to perfect my craft and can admit these things would make me better but the cost is prohibitive. Yes, they are $500+ each.

$400 each for me

I used them a couple weeks ago and both broke… not sure how. I’ve used them plenty before.

Still not worth it when compared to Ethibond or Silk sutures

It might save 2-3 min.

My time is not so valuable so as to be worth $400 for 2 minutes lol

 

[Orin]

It seems like so many things do this in medicine. Coolief is great, but not at $1200 per kit. Intracept is a nice adjunct to our back pain algorithm, but the kit is super expensive.

Have you looked at the Nimbus needle from Stratus Medical or Avanos' Trident? They're conventional RFA but larger lesion geometries so you can get similar volumes. The geometry is better than the Sidekick/Venom's and they deploy more reliably.

 

[gaspasser127]

Have you looked at the Nimbus needle from Stratus Medical or Avanos' Trident? They're conventional RFA but larger lesion geometries so you can get similar volumes. The geometry is better than the Sidekick/Venom's and they deploy more reliably.

Cheaper than coolief but still quite pricey

$80 a needle

 

[MitchLevi]

Is there real value to using these expensive needles? I can't imagine the cost is worth the outcome.

 

[Tboned]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772594423001048

I currently use Stryker venom and trident, anecdotally higher success rates with Stryker by a lot.

I used coolief almost exclusively in fellowship and it was nice, especially the side port for local administration, but no idea on success rates due to lack of followup with all patients. Also needles flipped around in skinny necks/knees. Trident much less so. Coolief based on lesions size and lack of deploying tines is much more forgiving IMHO compared to trident.

Probably no value over good conventional technique in regards to outcomes. Maybe faster and less fluoro time although myself I use less Fluoro when using Stryker/conventional technique compared to trident. If able to use 16 gauge conventional needles, that’s a big lesion, although that’s a big needle and may be uncomfortable without sedation. I don’t have access to 16g and have never used.

 

[Status Sciaticus]

Have you guys used that Fixate suturing thing from Boston Scientific?

They didn’t invent them - they bought the company that invented them.

But oh my gosh, they are super cool and great.

But I can’t imagine a single person ever uses them. They cost something like $700 a piece. That is an extra $1400 cost to an implant.

Who the crap priced those? Are they horrible at math?

I suspect that if they were $50-100, EVERYONE would use them every time. They are really great if you haven’t tried one. I mean…fantastic idea and design.

In anesthesia, nothing has changed in like 20 years but someone invented a game changing drug (sugammadex), and everyone would use it every case of it cost $10-$15, but the ‘***** at Merk priced it at $100/vial and most hospitals and ASCs keep it locked up and severally limit use.

I just don’t get the price analysis these yahoos use for this stuff.

It depends where you are and your contract.
My hospital gets them for $400 each.
Also its considered a device and you can bill the cost to insurance rather than paying the $800 out of your own pocket.